Nomads

Our life as nomads will soon be ending. San Antonio, Texas is where we will be settling. It's a great relief to have a final destination. Unfortunately we can't just stay on the military base there... we have to buy a house. This is a mixture of excitement and dread. So far The Husband and I are shopping homes online with a realtor based in San Antonio. There's a great inventory of homes in the price range we are pre-qualified for and comfortable with. In a little over a week we will meet in San Antonio and hopefully sign a contact for a new home!
As expected the house hunt has send my current lifestyle into a tail spin. Knitting is still going but has slowed some. I doubt I will get all my projects done but I am still aiming to get close. My health is finally on the mend and I am feeling quite well.
I doubt you'll hear much from me this month as I search for a home and prepare for a new life in San Antonio but once things are finalized I will post it all here.

Son of a B*(&^

Just as I finish addressing all my Christmas envelopes my husband calls with news on where we will move next and that it will likely happen soon, very soon... Where's the white out?!
More to come when we get the actual orders in our hands...

HINT ONE: They make salsa there and no, it's not NEW YORK CITY!

It's That Time Again

Christmas Cards. Yeah. I went by the old Target yesterday and bought a load of Christmas cards for this year. Currently we are up to sending out around 100 cards each Christmas. I know, we are masochists. My father stared in shocked silence as I set up my processing line on the coffee table while watching House last night. He asked why I sent out so many damn cards. Well, there are several reasons. The most selfish is that it's a way to network and keep people in our lives who might be able to help us out. As a military family we are always welcoming new people into our lives and we relay on those friends to help us navigate through the military system. I may not talk to some of them very often anymore but someday they might be able to help us adjust to a new base, discover a new government program that will help us or just be there as a shoulder to cry on when things get tough. In addition to being a military family I am blessed with close ties to extended family around the world. Nobody I know keeps in touch with 4th or 5th cousins in Norway or England. We do. These ties are wonderful for learning new cultures, family history and always having a place to stay when you are far from home. Some of the best cards come from overseas and I honestly don't want to miss out on those so I HAVE to send a letter and card every year. On a selfless level I know that some of the recipients, usually the older ones, really appreciate a letter and card, even from people they don't know well. Also there's something nice about receiving a lengthy letter and card instead of an email memo. Sure you save money with email but it's not alive and it isn't in your hands with your name handwritten.
That was another thing my father didn't understand. Why in the world would I handwrite all the addresses, return addresses and then two or three lines in each card. Because it's personal and intimate. Because of the mass of cards we do now I can't do anymore than that but we do enclose a typed memo as well. Still I need to write a few more personal lines in some cards to show more of a connection and personality.
Do people really appreciate it? I think more than half really enjoy it. And no, I don't get the same amount back... but maybe I'm showing my generation a new way of communicating... or old way. It's an art that is going away and really needs to stay with us. When I get a card with a personal message in it that is hand written I feel like someone cared. So here I am, caring for about 40 to 60 hours over the next month to get all these cards, memos, messages and addresses done. I care a lot.

FYI - If you usually get a card from us and have moved EMAIL your NEW ADDRESS to me! I hate getting these things back!

A Couple Videos

Here are a couple new videos of Hunter. He wanted to talk on the mobile phone like his Grandpa Rick one night...

Death and Education

So The Beast v2.0 has died a premature death. After looking at the pattern and asking around for more information I finally got a good look at what the finished item should be... not really what I wanted. Plus I think the person I'm knitting it for wouldn't like it as much as what I am now going knit. So I frogged it and am starting in on a new project for her.
My knitting has shifted down gear over the past two weeks. I'm still putting in time every day but more like 4 hours instead of the 6 to 8 I was doing. I feel sort of guilty but I am getting more done and spending more time with my son.
Another project I'm working on is a trade of trades. My massage lady is giving me some free massages in exchange for computer lessons. I think it's going great. She's a Mac person like me and has just enough skills to be deadly. I'm helping her sharpen those skills and possibly put her sculpting and puppet making businesses up on the internet. The lessons so far have shown how much I don't understand about certain things... her questions are great and often are my questions so we research it together. Today I've really opened up so much new stuff with my Gmail account. I was just doing the bare basics for years there but now I'm syncing my contacts with my Mac Address Book and my iCal with my Google Calendar. Next up I'll be getting more into Blogger and seeing what can be done there that I haven't explored.
It's been awhile since I really learned something new and exciting on the computer. After college I just slid by but it's so refreshing to try out new stuff and make new connections with programs I thought I knew. This type of learning has been sorely missed the past few years. I didn't know it until now. I'm glad to find a new outlet for my creativity and learning.
In addition to trading trades with one person I'm also about to embark on doing it with another. More computer stuff so this is great. I missed working. Even though actual money is not moving around at least I'm getting a break on services and getting my skills sharpened again. I feel productive, wanted, and inspired. Not bad for a Thursday.

The Beast v2.0

Yeah, I have a new most hated project. We will call it The Beast v2.0. Really it's a Civil War shawl for my Aunt Janet. I found it in a series of books: Knitting a La Mode, Knit Two a La Mode and Tunisian Crochet a La Mode. The pattern is an original from a French publication in 1863. The modern day book authors have translated the pattern to English and edited the directions for modern knitters. Still, it reads like a novel. Most patterns keep it simple and use knitter code without any fluffy language. These ladies use words and not the code to knit up their items. This leads to lots of assumptions and confusion. So I am moving along like a slug. I don't know when or if this will get done by Christmas. I've decided this is my project to work on when I am sick of working on anything else. I am also taking this exclusively to my knitting group on Mondays to get help and support. The damn pattern starts off with you casting on 292 stitches. Ugh. Dumb move Serinekat.
Other than the shawl I have my father's Christmas gloves on the needles and an ice mitt on the needles. The ice mitt is a quick knit which I altered a bit from the original pattern. If all goes to plan I should finish three projects this week and have three on the needles at all times.
You can say it - I know I'm crazy.

Burnout

You knew it was a matter of time. I've been knitting, dieting and generally keeping uber busy for the past month. I finished 14 knitting projects in the month of September. I've been at least 80% compliant with my diet. I've seen all my doctors. I'm tired.
Yesterday I put down my needles for most of the day to get some paperwork done and do little jobs around the house. Today I feel much the same. I hope this passes fast. I don't like feeling like this.